Selma to Montgomery march will target immigration, voter ID laws

Hosea Williams of SCLC, left, and John Lewis of Student nonviolent Coordinating Committee leading more than 500 people across Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma, heading to Montgomery on March 7, 1965. (The Birmingham News file)

MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Organizers say a "second" Selma to Montgomery march will call for Alabama to repeal its recently-passed immigration and voter ID laws in a more than 50-mile march taking place Sunday through Friday.

Organizers expect several thousand to show up for the annual crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in remembrance of "Bloody Sunday" in 1965 which peaceful marchers protesting the shooting death of Jimmy Lee Jackson were assaulted by law enforcement.

From there, several hundred will march about 10 miles per day until they arrive in Montgomery on Friday, March 9, where they will rally at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

Alabama Federation of Republican Women president Elois Zeanha says the immigration law is working to keep unemployment down and voter ID laws have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.